After considering the message from the FIA technical delegate about the violation of Directive TD003 by the Mercedes team, the stewards of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix limited themselves to a fine.
The essence of the violation is that before the restart the tire pressure was adjusted after being fitted to the cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in violation of the TD003 directive.
After the start of the race was cancelled, the teams were immediately given 10 minutes’ notice to restart. Given the location of access to the starting grid from the pit lane, the time required to do so and the fact that the entry gate to the grid was not opened immediately, the FIA accepted that it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the teams to follow the procedure prescribed by the technical guideline.
The FIA technical delegate noted that the tire pressure, although adjusted by the team, was within acceptable parameters.
Given all these circumstances, the stewards imposed a fine. Normally such an offense during a competitive session would result in a sporting penalty, but in this case it is not appropriate. However, this decision should not be considered a precedent for a similar violation in the future as its circumstances are considered unique.
The team received a double fine: 5,000 euros for each car.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
